More than 100 UK datacentres plan to burn gas to generate electricity

[highplainsdem]

Source: Guardian

More than 100 new datacentres in the UK plan to burn gas to generate electricity, some potentially doing so permanently.

British officials say this is an inevitable consequence of a years-long wait to connect to the National Grid, and raises an “interesting question” about the UK’s climate targets.

-snip-

Officials, businesspeople and activists attending the event in Glasgow acknowledged a marked shift over the past year in willingness of UK developers – and authorities – to consider using fossil fuels to power the UK’s AI ambitions.

-snip-

Kat Jones, the director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, an Edinburgh-based charity, said: “Those promoting the rush for hyperscale AI datacentres seem to be living in a parallel reality where the last 50 years of climate science hasn’t happened, and where we aren’t already experiencing the signs of climate breakdown.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/18/uk-datacentres-plan-to-burn-gas-to-generate-electricity

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And if AI companies can just get people to amuse themselves enough with AI slop, they might not notice the climate breaking down, at least until it affects them directly. Or might not care if they think AI is still worth it.

The AI bros have in the past often promised that AI will solve our climate crisis. Don't hear them say that quite as often any more.

[BonnieJW]

1. Idon't understand

These DC are supposed to be huge. Why not use solar panels on the roof and wind as backup

[Ray Bruns]

2. "Why not use solar panels on the roof and wind as backup?"

That sounds a lot like woke lib propaganda if you ask me

[Miguelito Loveless]

3. Exactly.

If you want a data center, generate your own power.

[highplainsdem]

5. Couldn't begin to provide enough power. The giant data center they're planning to build in Utah is

expected to use more electricity than the entire state does now:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/13/utah-approves-datacenter-backlash

[progree]

4. More natural gas-fired generation being developed to power US data centers than California's entire generating capacity

from all sources combined. (this is something I posted back in April)

Nearly 100 gigawatts ((100,000 MW -progree)) of natural-gas fired power are currently in development throughout the US solely to power data centers

This is a horrendous number. Catastrophic.

For scale, Hunter posted at about noon Pacific Time Thursday that California is using 27,000 MW of power (from all sources) at the moment. California is the 4th largest economy in the world, larger than Japan's.

In 2024, California had an in-state electric power generating capacity from all sources of 89,000 MW. -- https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/electric-generation-capacity-and-energy

About 39,000 of that is from fossil fuel (38,576 MW of natural gas and 351 MW of oil)

https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-google-funded-data-center-will-be-powered-by-a-massive-gas-plant/

As data center developers face lengthy wait times to connect to electricity grids and rising concerns over consumer electric bills, they’re increasingly turning to building their own energy, or what’s known as behind-the-meter power. For these projects, gas is king; data centers are now driving a US boom in natural gas. Nearly 100 gigawatts ((100,000 MW -progree)) of natural-gas fired power are currently in development throughout the US solely to power data centers, according to research ( https://www.wired.com/story/data-centers-are-driving-a-us-gas-boom/ ) published by the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor in January.

Per the Global Energy Monitor research, there are at least 15 projects in development across the US that are larger than the Goodnight campus. Several of these projects have only just been announced or are still in the development phase, and have not yet filed air permits detailing just how much greenhouse gases they will emit. But the numbers that have been made public are jaw-dropping: . . . ((a couple examples given -progree))

Emphasis added by Progree

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Another equivalence that might be more relatable --

The amount of natural-gas-fired generation in development just to power near-future U.S. data centers is equivalent, in greenhouse gas emissions, to adding 100 MILLION ADDITIONAL gasoline-fueled cars to the roads. All that mostly just for AI and cryptocurrency mining.